Westview Essex Senior League
Saturday 17th December 2005
	Romford	0 - 2	AFC Hornchurch
		H/T 0-1 Att: 416	Frew (o.g.) 28', Longman (pen) 67'

Match Highlights

Romford

AFC Hornchurch

	28	GOAL - Frew (og)
Gammon - BOOKED	37
Alder - BOOKED	44
	67	GOAL - Longman (pen)
Penny - OFF Thomas - ON	67	OFF - Tiffin ON - Everett
Frew - BOOKED	74
Lovett - OFF Walker - ON	75
	78	BOOKED - N Cowley
Frew - OFF Hall - ON	87
	88	OFF - P Golby ON - Sontag
	90+6	BOOKED - Sontag

Match Report by Tony Middleton
 

This was it – the big one for Romford, and it had been hyped up for weeks. Romford were confident of winning, so much so that most of their supporters chose to go Christmas shopping instead, leaving 90 percent of the crowd supporting the visitors. Outside, the bar prior to the start was packed, with record takings; inside, the one and only refreshment hut was struggling to cope with a queue which stretched half the length of the stand. The ground had a lop-sided look about it, as the almost deserted terrace on the far side is nearly 40 yards from the touchline, and is not a popular viewing area, whilst the stand side held the bulk of the 415 crowd

Hornchurch retained the same starting line up as the previous week, with Lee Sontag making a welcome return to the squad after an absence of three and a half months and twenty matches. Urchins made a confident but slow start, completely dominating but not creating any early chances. Greg Tiffin created the first opening of the match, taking Bostock’s pass and gliding the ball through to Danny Heale, whose goal bound shot was cleared by Rogan, who hammered the ball out of the ground. Glen Golby’s long throw in landed almost under the bar, but Finn made a clean catch under pressure from King and Heale. Regan was again in action, kicking clear from Holland, who had been played through by Longman, and the first intricate move of the day followed when Nicky Cowley took a pass from Danny Cowley and crossed, for Glen Golby to head back to Longman, on the other wing, but his centre was far too long and the ball went harmlessly out. Longman was called upon to the take the first of many free kicks, his shot being hard and accurate, but straight at Finn in the home goal.

Romford rarely threatened, and one of their few opportunities came when Rogan played a free kick deep into the goalmouth, but Bostock saw the ball safely out of play, shielding the ball from Lovett. Danny Cowley gave Heale a good opening and with defenders waiting to see what Heale would do, he looked up, and fired in a first time shot from thirty yards, which went just wide of the post. Gallen got a rare chance to threaten when he ran through the middle, but in his eagerness he pushed Paul Golby and conceded the free kick. Wakem earned the referee’s displeasure with an untimely tackle on Holland, and Longman dummied the free kick, leaving Glen Golby to play the ball into the middle, where Heale ran past Frew, lobbed Finn, and then saw the ball drop inches wide of the goal. Nicky Cowley sent in a low free kick but no one could provide the finishing touch. Paul Golby put Nicky Cowley away again, and Finn did well to catch the centre with both Holland and Heale coming in fast. Nicky Cowley, twice inside a minute, sent in free kicks which Finn dealt with comfortably, whilst a fourth Nicky Cowley free kick reached Tiffin, who cut in from the right only for Frew to kick the ball out for a corner which Longman put too close to the extremely alert Finn. A Tiffin cross found Holland, and Rogan came to the rescue, hammering the ball hard upfield. Lovett conceded another free kick, but Longman’s somewhat over-optimistic shot from 40 yards out was a wasted effort.

Romford had so far not shown any indication that they were capable of finding the net, but this all changed when MATT FREW, under extreme pressure from DANNY HEALE, showed his forwards how to score goals, with an excellent lobbed shot to give Urchins the lead from about thirty yards out. Frew must be given the goal, but Danny Heale frightened it into the net, so deserves an equal share of the goal. Urchins went all out for a second, Nicky Cowley finding Tiffin with a free kick, but though Greg sidestepped two players, Frew got back in time to kick the ball out for a corner, which Longman swerved in, right into the waiting clutches of Finn. Longman again with a free kick which reached King, whose header was well saved by Finn. And then Bostock played an excellent pass to Heale, and thence to Holland, who just failed to reach the ball before it ran out of play. Another Longman free kick, with Danny Cowley this find on the end of it, and Danny played the ball short to Heale who was pulled up for a very tight offside. A brief spell of home pressure came to nothing, with Rogan’s free kick being headed away by King, but only to Gallen, whose shot was deflected out by Bostock for a corner. A convincing first half but with only the one goal, when in terms of possession Urchins should have already been home and dry.

Talking point at half time – would Romford manage a shot on target? The answer came five minutes into the second half, just as the floodlights were belatedly switched on to lighten up the gathering gloom. Gallen went racing clear, chasing an upfield punt, and was stopped by the joint efforts for King and Bostock, the resulting free kick being hammered into the wall by Alder, who had moved up to take the short sideways ass from Rogan. Back came the Urchins with the ever popular Frew conceding a free kick for a foul on Holland, who had been harshly treated throughout. Longman took the kick, but the ball was cleared upfield for Gammons, with Bostock being forced to concede a corner. Wakem took the kick and Bostock headed out for another corner, which this time King headed powerfully away. And then, sensation, Collier had to make a save, punching away a free kick from Rogan. At the other end, Longman again put a free kick too close to Finn, who was having an inspired match – not that he had much choice – whilst Lovett ran forward from Finn’s upfield kick and slipped the ball inside to Penny, but Bostock tackled and Collier completed the clearance. Danny Cowley combined with Tiffin and Greg crossed into the middle, Finn saving from Heale. Gammons twice in succession tried a long throw into the goalmouth, King heading the first one away, and Bostock repeating the performance seconds later.

Then Tiffin sent Holland away, and Heale just failed to reach the low cross as it beat Finn and then rolled out of play. A goal was now very much in the offing, and it came following a Heale – Holland – Heale move which ended with the referee pointing to the spot. No question about it, though the home side did appear to have quite a lot of questions aimed at the referee, who firmly put them in their place, and the ball on the spot. Who to take it? After a long pause, up stepped LUKE LONGMAN to repeat last week’s performance. Two up, all over.

The home side, having failed to make any impression, adopted kick and rush tactics, which gave the referee plenty to do, as their tackling got somewhat over-enthusiastic. But play was concentrated at the home end, with Urchins in total command. Tiffin had limped off, to be replaced by Terry Everett, and Everett created just as much havoc in the home defence as did Greg. Everett won a free kick, Nicky Cowley played the ball to King, and King back to Longman, and then back to Nicky Cowley. A low cross, and Danny Cowley sent a shot thundering inches over the bar. The Urchins supporters, who by now had the ground more or less to themselves, the home following having disappeared without trace, were infuriated by a tackle by Frew, who had only just been booked for an earlier foul, and they were then incensed when Nicky Cowley was booked for apparently protesting about the non-award of any free kick, with Danny Cowley perhaps also fortunate to escape the book in the ensuing discussions. Heale then homed in onto a free kick the popular Frew conceding a corner with a wild clearance. Everett floated the ball over, and Finn did well to save.

A Danny Cowley shot was saved and then Bostock came up to join in, and sent Heale away on the left. Heale touched the ball low inside to Holland, whose shot brought the save of the match from Finn, who remarkably tipped the ball over the bar. Everett took the corner, and Finn saved again. Another Heale run found Holland and he played the ball back to Longman, whose shot was only just a few inches wide.

And then on came Lee Sontag for what many thought would be a cameo appearance with just two minutes left – plus six minutes of stoppage / arguing time. In the eight minutes Lee was on the field, he created havoc in the home defence, with some penetrating runs along the wing, and then was very harshly booked for complaining when another bad tackle went unpenalised.

Urchins were applauded long and loudly at the finish, whilst a lone Romford supporter, as he left the ground, was picked up by a friend who asked “what was the score?” Back came then answer “two nil”.

“Who to” said the picker upper. “Hornchurch, of course, who do you think it was to” came back the answer.

Video Highlights by Rob Monger

- 28mins. Romford's Matt Frew puts us in front with this spectacular own goal (605KB)
- 67mins. Luke Longman seals the points from the spot(690KB)
- Post match interview with Nicky Cowley (2.8MB)

  Teams

Romford Neil Finn Ben Tolley George Alder Micky Rogan (c) Matt Frew Steve Lovett Gavin Penny Jamie Wakem James Gammons Des Gallen Danny Church SUBS Danny Walker Craig Thomas Steve Howe Andy Hall Stacy Bowtell

- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 * 12 14 15 16 17

AFC Hornchurch Michael Collier Greg Tiffin Paul Golby Glen Golby Steve King Jordan Bostock (c) Nicky Cowley Danny Cowley Billy Holland Danny Heale Luke Longman SUBS Rikki Burbridge Billy Drake Gareth Thomas Terry Everett Lee Sontag

Man of the Match Nominated by ...

Weather Conditions:  3 degrees at start, zero degrees at finish. Wind speed 10mph at start 5mph at finish. Wind chill factor - minus 4 at start, zero at finish

Match Duration: First half 48mins 22secs. Second half 51mins 20secs
 

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